I sat at the oversized conference table, across from Charlotte, head in hands, as the two factions at opposite sides of the room argued over the same damned thing for the hundredth time. I’d taken over from the others today, just as I promised, and I was glad that I did. I couldn’t imagine listening to this crap for multiple days in a row.

  At one end of the table was Shattered Skies, a samurai who I’d met for the first time this morning. He was advocating for more corporate control at the start, then gradually shifting more power over to civilian control.

  Apparently Mirage didn’t want to get involved in this fight, so one of his former lackeys had taken up the cause.

  At the other end was Graffiti, another samurai who was completely new to me. He specialized in cleaning up after incursions and spray painting anti-corp rhetoric upon buildings that he’d cleaned up. He was arguing vehemently against any corp involvement in the new government.

  Apparently this was exactly how the previous day had gone too.

  “This city hasn’t had democratic representation for years. There’s no system in place to review the issues, never mind discussing them in an open forum. Just handing the city over to the people right now is lunacy,” Shattered argued. The man looked like a Mirage wannabe, without the personality. Immaculate grey suit, perfectly styled blond hair and goatee, and not a single expression crossing his stony face.

  “Lunacy? The council has been bleeding the people dry for years. If the people give up control of the city to a new corporate board ‘until things are in place,’ they’ll never get it back again. The corps will just consolidate and hoard the power, like last time,” Graffiti argued, jumping to his feet. Mirage’s dark purple suits were ridiculous, but they had nothing on Graffiti’s outfit. It was a black overcoat covered in random graffiti tags. Under that he had a wife beater and black cargo pants that hung low enough that it showed off his underwear. Between his slicked-back brown hair, smarmy smile, and aviator sunglasses, I had problems taking him seriously.

  It was apparently a ‘classic’ style, but I thought he looked ridiculous.

  “You two have been at this for two days now,” I groaned. “Neither of you are going to be on the council; why can’t you agree on a reasonable approach?”

  “Because reasonable and feasible are two different things. A civilian government would have to spend months playing catch-up. At least the corporations have policies and procedures in place, which they can draw from,” Shattered explained smoothly.

  “Which they’ll implement, then never explain,” Graffiti roared.

  “I think you’re both blowing this thing way out of proportion,” I grumbled.

  “Just because the corporations have experience running things doesn’t mean they’ll be any better at running the city than civilians. I expect running an established company and running an unprepared city are two different things,” I told Shattered, before turning to Graffiti. “And just because the corps had power before doesn’t mean they’ll consolidate and hoard it again, especially with a bunch of samurai overseeing the operation. Why can’t we just split the council in two?”

  “Because that’s the only thing that these two could agree on,” Stalking explained with a smirk. “That splitting the council into half civilian, half corporate was a bad idea.”

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  “Then that’s exactly what we should do,” I announced.

  “What? Why?” Graffiti shouted, jumping to his feet.

  “Because the best compromise is one that no one is happy with,” I explained. “Both of your arguments sound reasonable, from a certain point of view, but they’re both biased as fuck.”

  “Look at it this way, with equal representation, you can both leave the table secure with the knowledge that your opponent is as miserable as you are.” I said, pushing away from the table. I stood up and stretched my arms, ignoring the murderous look Graffiti was shooting me. “Honestly, I don’t care who’s in control, as long as they don’t go out of their way to cause more harm to the city.”

  “Do you honestly think the city would survive equal representation? It’ll be chaos!” Graffiti yelled.

  “Probably, for the first couple sessions anyways, but if I’ve learned anything from the undercity gang wars, once the two sides bloody each other's nose and learn how far they can push each other, things’ll find an equilibrium and calm down,” I explained. “Besides, with samurai on both sides, it’s not like one faction can muscle in and take complete control.”

  Charlotte frowned. “Teddy, darling, I know that was probably meant to be comforting in some way, but I’m not sure equating politics to gang warfare is appropriate.”

  “That’s probably true. I expect there’s a lot less backstabbing and double dealing during gang wars.” This time when both men frowned, I just ignored them.

  “So we don’t get a say in this?” Graffiti growled, “I thought the whole point of this meeting was to find a fair compromise.”

  “It is,” I agreed, “and if you think this is worth voting on, we can do that.”

  I stepped forward and slowly panned my gaze over the table before clearing my throat. “All in favor of finding a different solution?”

  Both men solemnly raised their hands.

  “All in favor of implementing equal representation and getting on with our lives?”

  Both Charlotte and I put our hands up, and after a quick nudge, Bob stepped forward and threw up one of his paws too.

  I saw the briefest hint of annoyance pass over Shattered’s face, the first time his expression had changed all day. “Do you think this is a joke? That we’ll stand for this if you rig some informal vote?”

  “Honestly? I just want to get on with my life. See, most of my friends are polite and will try to direct your conversation. Me? I don’t give a shit what you think. My friends and I have spent the better part of a week trying to keep this city from collapsing under the weight of all the old council’s bullshit. Both figuratively and literally, while you two have been off doing fuck knows what.” I took a deep breath, trying to keep my temper down. “We don’t need your permission, or help, to implement a new government, but since you represent the two largest samurai political factions, Charlotte suggested we involve you both. I fucking regret that now.”

  “So what? We either cooperate or our faction doesn’t get to be involved in the new government, is that it?” Graffiti asked, uncertain.

  “Not your faction, you,” I clarified, pulling my chair back to the table and sitting again. “What neither of you seem to have grasped over the last few days is we had no obligation to include you in these discussions. It would have made things easier if you both had come together and helped us, but now I can see the two of you are nothing more than a hindrance. Get out.”

  Charlotte looked at me with a small smile and a raised eyebrow but didn’t say anything. The men, on the other hand, looked aghast.

  “You’re really kicking us out?” Shattered asked.

  “Of course, we have fucking work to do, and you’re not helping. If you two are going to act like fucking six-year-olds, I’m going to treat you as such. Out!”

  “You can’t do this!” Graffiti yelled, stepping around the table. I let him get about two steps before Bob stepped between us. Graffiti immediately paled. Maybe he had seen one of the viral videos going around of Bob ripping apart the superheavy tanks.

  “I can and will!” I announced loudly. “But I’ll tell you what. If you two go home and think of constructive ways to contribute, I may let you participate in the discussion tomorrow. If you two want to just fucking moan and complain, don’t bother coming back.”

  The pair exchanged looks but didn’t argue. Graffiti stormed out without another word, while Shattered strutted confidently.

  Once they were gone, Charlotte turned to me. “Are you sure that was a smart idea? Having the support of those two and their factions would make things much easier.”

  “No… but I was tired of listening to them whine. Besides, they’ll probably be back tomorrow and far more receptive to criticism.”

  “What makes you so sure?” Charlotte asked with a grin.

  “Because if one of them shows up, but not the other, it’ll put that faction ‘ahead’ in their minds. They’re far too competitive and unwilling to show any weakness, so they’ll both be back.”

  “Correct answer!” Charlotte declared proudly. “Are you sure you want to stay out of politics? You have the instincts for it.”

  “No thanks,” I groaned, laying my head on the table. “Dealing with those two is tiring enough.”

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